Christmas 2019 in Forest Hill, Sydenham, and Kirkdale Your guide to all the events this December across SE23 and SE26.

Your guide to all the events this December across SE23 and SE26.

Highlights in Forest Hill include:

• Havelock Walk Winter Weekend - Sat 30th November & Sun 1st December, 12-6pm 
• Late Night Shopping in Forest Hill and Kirkdale - Thu 5th December until 8pm
• Forest Hill Christmas Tree switch on and carol singing - Sat 7th December, 4:15pm 
• Kirkdale Christmas Tree Lights switch on - Sat 3rd December, 5pm 
• Horniman Christmas Fair - Sun 15th December, 10am-3pm 

With lots of other events throughout December.

Planning: DC/19/113252 - Our Lady and St Philip Neri Primary School, Mayow Road

The Forest Hill Society has written to object to the following planning application:

The demolition of Our Lady and St Philip Neri Primary School, Mayow Road SE23 and the construction of 59 flats (24 one bedroom, 27 two bedroom and 8 three bedroom).

The key concerned that we have raised relate to:

• Scale and massing
• Lack of parking provision
• Removal of mature trees from the site

Read full objection here.

Forest Hill Society AGM

By Michael Abrahams, Chair, Forest Hill Society

For this year’s AGM we are delighted to have a guest speaker from Transport for London, who will tell us about the plans for extending the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to the South Circular, and what it will mean for cars and air quality in the local area.

The AGM will be held at Louise House (adjacent to Forest Hill Library) on Thursday 17th October, from 7:30pm, and members and non-members alike are welcome to attend.

As well as finding out about the ULEZ, you will learn about Forest Hill Society's projects and accomplishments over the past year and have an opportunity to set the Society's course for the year to come. At last year's AGM, two priorities emerged: concerns about flight paths concentrated over Forest Hill and concerns about air quality in the local area. I’m pleased to say that, with specific leadership from Tim Walker and Alice Tate-Harte, we have been able to make some progress on each of these issues.

If you have concerns that you think are important to the local area, please come along and share them at the meeting; issues that garner support will help set the agenda for 2020 and beyond.

As chairperson of the Society for eight of the past thirteen years, I have seen the Forest Hill Society become an important part of the community by campaigning on a wide variety of issues: retention of our swimming pools and library, developing green spaces in the town centre, high street regeneration, better train services, improved flight paths and air quality, and assorted planning proposals. We have also run markets, and organised walks and street parties. It is all part of our mission to continue to make Forest Hill an even better place, and we have certainly seen some positive changes in the past decade.

At this AGM I intend to stand down from the role of chairperson due to work commitments, but I’m confident that the Executive Committee that runs the Forest Hill Society will continue to make more improvements to the local area.

Throughout my time and involvement with the Forest Hill Society I have been constantly inspired by so many people’s passion and commitment to the local community. Both newcomers and long-term residents have contributed to our success in equal measure by volunteering their skills and offering creative ideas.

It has been a privilege to lead the Forest Hill Society during a period of substantial development, but I look forward to seeing new people with fresh ideas joining the Society’s Executive Committee, and even leading it. Every year, new members join the committee and offer new perspectives which make a big difference. So this year, why not be one of these people?

The Executive meets about once every six weeks, which is not a huge time commitment, and it is worth noting that the Executive includes some lovely people with a variety of backgrounds. Everyone is welcome as long as you care about our local area.

There are three ways to become a member of the Executive Committee:
1. By attending the AGM and standing for election (don’t worry, it isn’t an onerous task)
2. By emailing me at michael@fhsoc.com to state your interest and to find out more information
3. By me forcing you to ‘volunteer’
All three methods work equally well!

Finally, let me say a huge “Thank you!” to everybody who has supported me in the work I have done for the Forest Hill Society. Without so many willing volunteers, none of our accomplishments would have been possible.

City Airport Masterplan - Response

 In response to the City Airport Masterplan consultation, the Forest Hill Society has written a detailed response. Below is the text of the covering letter:

We do not consider that any increase in permitted flight numbers should even be considered until the noise problems that the Airport created in 2016 with its low altitude concentrated flight paths have been addressed, together with the low flying and crossing of flight paths with Heathrow. You have told us this would mean not until 2025 at the earliest. It is disappointing that the Airport has not seen fit to make a public statement setting out objectives to resolve these problems and that the Masterplan makes no little or no mention of them. We consider that a Masterplan should set out clear objectives on issues that will impact the residents of the thirteen overflown Boroughs, if necessary cross referenced to the Our Future Skies project to, for example:-

    Fly higher over urban populations
    Give respite or relief from noise to the overflown by alternating flight paths
    Fly a new, higher continuous descent approach over SE London
    Reduce or eliminate crossing of flight paths with Heathrow.

We also oppose any more early or late flights, and any longer operating hours over the weekend.

To view the full response from the Forest Hill Society please download from here. We are pleased that this includes comments and endorsement of our response by the London Borough of Lewisham and by Ellie Reeves, MP for Lewisham West and Penge.

First Lewisham Sketch Crawl

By Simon McCormack

Please come and join us on the first Lewisham Sketch Crawl, which will take place on Sunday 29th September 2019.

Meet at 10.45am at the Horniman Museum and Gardens Bandstand for an 11.00am start.

A sketch crawl consists of six to eight stops at a range of locations. At each location you get half an hour to complete a sketch, watercolour or pastel — it's up to you. All the locations are fairly close to each other. Each sketch crawl will have a designated starting point, but you can join or leave the sketch crawl at any point. We will also publish where we will be and at what time for each stop.

Bring a packed lunch or you can eat at a local café. There will be time at the end of the day to share your work, if you wish. All ages and abilities are welcome.

We will be organising future Sketch Crawls around Lewisham and South London, mainly during the spring, summer and autumn months.

Please join our Lewisham Sketchcrawlers Facebook group page for further details and updates at http://tiny.cc/n70jaz.

Bampton Estate Green an Asset of Community Value

The Forest Hill Society has received confirmation that their request to recognise Bampton Estate Green as an Asset of Community Value has been successful.

Reasons for nomination:
1) The green/grass open space with trees and the ball court is used and valued by Bampton Estate residents and neighbours to play, interact with each other, for various recreational activities including family picnics.

2) The area is safe and ideal for children and families. The area is well-observed from all sides and situated well away from the road.

3) The ball court is used for sports and physical activities by local children, young people as well as adults from Bampton Estate. The resource encourages physical activity as opposed to sedentary lifestyles.

4) The space allows residents and neighbours direct exposure to nature which is beneficial to mental health and physical well-being, reducing stress and pressure from daily life.

5) The green open space allows children to be outside and play in nature, the latter are crucial in children’s health development, emotional stability and mental health.

6) The green open community space allows local people to make friends and meet neighbours.

7) The combination of several mature trees and the green grass on the estate helps keep our area fresh and cool in the summer.

8) The mature trees help to remove various pollutants from the air that negatively affect people with respiratory problems and increase mortality rates.

9) The area has its own ecosystem and provides a safe habitat for various animals, birds including bats and woodpeckers.

10) The area serves as a communal garden for Bampton Estate residents who live in flats and don't have their own private garden.

£30,000 Investment for Baxter Field

By Sybil Barker, Secretary, Friends of Baxter Field

Baxter Field is a hidden gem situated behind Sydenham School and well-loved by those who use it. The current Friends of Baxter Field group was set up in 2016 by a few local residents wanting to improve and nurture this local green space. Our aim is to make it a place where the local community can come and connect with nature, or simply enjoy the space.

Over the past three years, we’ve succeeded in winning funding from schemes such as Tesco’s Bags of Help, and the Forest Hill Assembly. This has helped kick off our improvement plan for the park, allowing us to run various events, such as Big Digs, where we’ve planted spring bulbs which now give colour to the park in spring time; and we have also planted 400 saplings around the field, creating a hedgerow to replace iron railings near one of the park entrances and to soften the perimeter of the central playground.

We have had plenty of support from Glendale and Lewisham Council, and recently we were given the amazing news that we’ve been awarded £30,000 to improve the park’s play area, which is in need of renovation. We have already kicked off a consultation with local schools and we will be soliciting feedback from local residents, so that we can put the funding to the best use, and design something which will suit the needs of as many park users as possible.

In the meantime, we’re enjoying a new picnic bench in the play area and a brand-new noticeboard, both of which have been hand-crafted by Men in Sheds in Penge, a local charity supported by Age UK. The noticeboard will allow us to keep everyone updated on plans and local events.

If you’re interested in keeping updated with upcoming events, activities and progress on the playground, join our Friends of Baxter Field Facebook group or follow us on Twitter @BaxterFieldSE26.

Architecture Quiz

Somewhere in Forest Hill is a pineapple or possibly a whole bunch of them! But do you recognise where this one might be found?

Pineapples were quite common decorations on London buildings from the 17th century onwards and were a sign of wealth — that’s because pineapples could cost more than £5,000 each!

Today they retail for a fraction of that cost at the Forest Hill Co-op and other local food stores. However, if you cannot find any in stock at the Co-op, you might take a look around to see if you can find this one not too far away!

For more on the history of pineapples in London visit:
tiny.cc/pineapplefacts